PARADIM Researchers Show That “Blurrier Is Better” for Atomic Imaging
This schematic shows how an electron probe is defocused to capture a wide range of data that is reconstructed into an ultraprecise image. The bottom three images are the diffraction patterns simulated when the probe is illuminated at the positions circled above. Image credit courtesy of PARADIM/Cornell University.
By PARADIM News
In a surprising twist on conventional wisdom, researchers using PARADIM's advanced microscopy tools have shown that slightly defocused—or “blurrier”—electron microscopy images can yield more accurate atomic positions. The team demonstrated how altering focus spreads information across the detector, improving the precision of atom localization through computational reconstruction.
The work was featured in the Cornell Chronicle article, “When Imaging Atoms, Blurrier Is Better.”